PadEks-A Dutch court has rejected a Moluccan separatist group's bid to have the Indonesian president arrested while in the Netherlands, BBC reported.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was due to start his state visit on Wednesday, but he cancelled the trip after the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS) group asked The Hague District Court to order his detention.

A spokesman for the court said the request had been denied.

Indonesian authorities crushed the RMS after it declared independence in 1950.

It was revived following the fall of President Suharto in 1998, and is currently based in the Netherlands, Indonesia's former colonial power.

The group holds President Yudhoyono responsible for the alleged mistreatment and torture of detained Moluccan separatist activists.